


Achieving the Ever After

by Argent_Vulpine



Series: Sylveth Weekend 2020 [3]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: End-Game spoilers, F/M, Golden Deer, Golden Deer Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Golden Deer Sylvain Jose Gautier, Post-Game, Sylveth Weekend 2020, sylveth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:39:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27666223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Argent_Vulpine/pseuds/Argent_Vulpine
Summary: After the war ends, what becomes of Sylvain and Byleth?
Relationships: Sylvain Jose Gautier/My Unit | Byleth
Series: Sylveth Weekend 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2017349
Kudos: 22





	Achieving the Ever After

To say that he was amazed that she had chosen him, after everything he’d said and done, would have been quite an understatement. Sylvain wasn’t sure if there existed a word for how truly amazed, ecstatic, thrilled he was that she had agreed to marry him. This woman had become everything to him, and the journey of her own growth was astounding in so many ways.

Ashen Demon. Professor. General and master tactician. Archbishop. Queen of Unification. And somehow, despite all that… she’d chosen to also be his wife.

He hadn’t really wanted to be Margrave before then, and he didn’t think she would have cared even if he hadn’t taken the title, but he knew what people might have said, and while he had never cared what they’d said about him, what they said about her meant a lot more.

So. He took the title, and married the love of his life.

——————

He knew that she struggled, sometimes, with the finer arts of diplomacy. As Archbishop and Queen, she had a lot on her plate, so he stepped in wherever he could, whenever he could.

He helped her decide the appropriate speech to give when they announced their alliance to Almyra, fostering better relations with the new king, Khalid - otherwise known as Claude, their close friend, who had left after the end of the war to take his own throne, leading to this very day.

A day that he and Byleth - and eventually Sylvain - had dreamed of, hoped for, and worked so hard to achieve.

It wasn’t an easy transition, of course, but House Goneril was happier to help than the populace might have thought. It turned out that Holst and Nader had a great many things in common, once they weren’t fighting each other, and their mutual respect had eased the alliance somewhat.

Nader and Judith of Daphnel’s relationship eventually coming to light didn’t hurt, either.

Byleth treated Sylvain exactly as she always had: a valued ally and partner, and a sound tactician, both on and off the field.

One of their first joint efforts had been to make a decree regarding heirs and the existence of Crests.

A year later, Byleth quietly announced her pregnancy to their innermost circle of friends.

She had told Sylvain about her own troubled birth, shown him her father’s journal, and he spent the nine months worrying about her, hoping the same fate would not befall her or their child. He said nothing when Claude came from Almyra for the last month of the pregnancy, determined to be there for them.

——————

Over the years, their family grew. Claude eventually married Hilda, which Byleth stated had been bound to happen, as Hilda seemed the only person other than herself who was willing to put up with his mischief, and who was strong enough to placate Almyrans in the turbulent times following the alliance.

Sylvain had fully settled into his role as Margrave and King Consort by that point, taking the bulk of the burden of raising their children, teaching them the ins and outs of nobility and what their parents were hoping to achieve.

Not once did they test their children for crests. All three were treated equally, with love and compassion. All three would have the chance to choose their own path. Byleth did not wish to be Archbishop forever, after all, and eventually there would need to be a new Margrave, and a new ruler of the united Fódlan.

That they had been blessed with three children was something of a miracle for the both of them, all things considered.

——————

“Sylvain.”

He looked up from the paperwork on his desk, blinking blearily up at his wife. “Did you say something, By?”

“I’ve been trying to get your attention. We have visitors,” she said, moving to his desk and leaning in to brush a kiss against his cheek. “Felix and Annette just arrived, and I’ve received word that Khalid and Hilda are almost here, as well.”

“Already? I hadn’t realized it was that late. I’m sorry,” he replied, pulling her in for a soft kiss.

“Mm. You need to get ready. Do you know where Alessia is?” Despite telling him he needed to get ready, she settled into his lap, leaning back against him when his arms wrapped around her, holding her close.

“She said she was going to the tower, I think. I’m sure she’s still there.” Their youngest daughter certainly seemed to enjoy the tower. He wanted to blame Claude, but in all honesty, with her green hair and eyes - so like her mother’s - he thought it was perhaps more that she felt drawn to it.

“I’ll go get her, then, while you get changed. Raina and Connor are keeping our guests occupied.”

“You mean that Raina and Connor are currently wiping the floor with Felix.”

She smiled slyly, giving him another kiss before slipping out of his arms. “Perhaps.”

He huffed out a laugh as she left the room, putting down his quill and capping the jar of ink before he stood, stretching, and went to freshen up. That didn’t take him long at all, and soon he was downstairs, headed for the training ground where he knew Felix and his other two children were waiting.

To his surprise, it was not Raina and Connor both. Connor, in fact, was off to the side, conversing with Annette and pointing excitedly at some spell or another he’d found in a book while she did her best to explain it to him.

Which left his eldest child alone with Felix… and holding her own. More than.

Sylvain leaned against a column and watched with a wry grin. Raina had definitely taken after her mother in this sense, a skilled fighter, quick on her feet in both thought and action. Unlike her mother, however, she preferred the lance, like Sylvain, rather than the sword. Then again, she was also looking to be taller than her mother even at age 10. Byleth had definitely not pouted when she’d come to that realization. Absolutely not. Or so she’d say to anyone that asked.

“Oh, look, there’s your old man,” Felix said after his next yield, grinning as he got to his feet.

“Papa!” came from both his children, abandoning their places to come and wrap their arms around him, almost knocking him over.

Sylvain laughed, tousling their hair with an indulgent grin. “You should go clean up. The rest of our friends will be here soon.”

They ran off, calling out their partings as they did. Byleth entered the training ground soon after, likely having sent Alessia off to do the same. She smiled warmly at their friends, giving Annette a hug and clasping arms with Felix, promising to spar him the next morning.

They chatted amiably, leaving the training ground to wander around the monastery while they waited for the rest of their dining companions. Byleth, of course, was stopped from time to time by clergy, students, and visitors alike, though everyone who caught her attention wisely did not take long, noting that she had company.

By the time they made their way up to the Archbishop’s floor and out onto the terrace, the children had changed into fresh clothes, and Claude and Hilda had arrived, joining them shortly after.

It was a nice evening spent with friends, though their children lamented the lack of their own companions. Claude and Hilda’s children were under the watchful eye of Nader and Judith back in Almyra. Felix and Annette had elected to leave their son at home, still too young to comfortably travel from Fraldarius to Garreg Mach.

Conversation flowed easily amongst the friends, with Byleth and Claude commiserating over the woes of ruling entire nations, their spouses exchanging tips on ways they eased those burdens. Byleth and Felix discussed a new forging technique that had arisen, talking blades until they were dragged back into general conversation with the others.

It was that night when Byleth brought up the idea of finally retrieving all of the Hero’s Relics and laying them properly, finally to rest. It was time.

It had been time, to their minds, for a long while now, but with small uprisings in the first few years following the war, and then the matter of successions across the continent, it hadn’t seemed like a good idea, despite the desire.

Byleth, especially, was ready to lay Sothis to rest, a final parting for her first friend.

——————

A year later, on the anniversary of the end of the war, Byleth and all the other wielders of Hero’s Relics assembled in the Holy Tomb. One by one, each of them laid to rest the relics, thanking them for their service.

Byleth was the last to go, whispering her thanks to Sothis and placing the sword - the goddess’ spine - into the sarcophagus meant for the goddess herself. She thought, for a brief moment, that Sothis responded, but the sensation was gone almost as soon as it began.

This was the final ceremony that would ever be held in this tomb. She had given Rhea, Seteth, and Flayn the option to say goodbye in private, after the ceremony, and then it would be properly sealed, never to be opened again.

The world had no need for relics such as these, and all they had ever done was cause pain. She was determined to put an end to that.

Sylvain loved her perhaps even more than ever for it.

——————

The academy had been reformed long ago, opening up to students from outside Fódlan. The houses were not renamed, but no longer were students sorted into them by their homeland. Instead they were sorted at random, though they hadn’t been able to completely do away with some of the older traditions.

Their children were the heads of their houses in the years that they attended.

After Alessia’s graduation - and only then - did Sylvain and Byleth finally announce the intended successions of their titles. Alessia would enter training to replace her mother as Archbishop; Connor had elected to become Margrave, preferring the smaller but still important duties of maintaining the Gautier lands, which left Raina the heir apparent for all Fódlan.

The family couldn’t be happier. Their children had chosen for themselves, and amongst themselves, what they wanted.

They still didn’t know - or care - if any of their children bore a crest.

This was the life that Sylvain had always wanted, and he was so, so glad to have achieved it.

**Author's Note:**

> Sylveth Weekend 2020: Day 3 - free


End file.
